


Clipped Wings

by callboxkat



Category: Original Work
Genre: Fae & Fairies, Fairies, Giant/Tiny, Gilded Cage, Imprisonment, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:35:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28134777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callboxkat/pseuds/callboxkat
Summary: The fairy had been in this cage for a very long time.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 4





	Clipped Wings

The floor of the cage was cold and unforgiving. Its occupant shifted, trying and failing—as always—to get comfortable. No matter how they lay, the hard metal pressed into the bruises, chilled their skin, and put an ache in every point of contact.

They sighed, tired eyes fluttering open to stare at the bars across from where they lay. They were ornate, designed to resemble golden vines, meant to make the cage look less like exactly what it was. It probably worked, for the human. For the fairy, it felt like mockery. These vines were just as cold, just as hard, just as confining as the rest of the prison. They only reminded the fairy of just how unlike home this place was.

The fairy closed their eyes and rolled over, yet another futile attempt to get even slightly more comfortable. They slowly wrapped their wings around themself. Useless and disfigured as they were, they would at least help to keep out some of the chill.

They shifted one wing to block their view of the shining metal bars, and they closed their eyes. Eventually, they fell into a fitful sleep.

They were woken by a bright light flaring into existence. The fairy flinched, blinded even with their face hidden by translucent wings, and covered their eyes with their hands. They felt the soft, feathery down near their shoulder blades fluff up. A sound escaped them—not a word, only a sound. They hadn’t had the energy to speak in a long time. What was the point?

“Grumpy this morning, are we?” the amused voice of their prisoner said. His footsteps sent vibrations through the room, causing the cage to tremble where it hung from the ceiling on a long golden chain.

The fairy peeked out, glaring through squinted, watery eyes.

Their prisoner’s large hand came up an unlocked the door of the cage. The fairy shuffled back as he dropped a handful of hard, plain brown pellets that skittered and rolled in different directions. The fairy knew from experience that they tasted like dust, and made their jaw ache.

“Good little pet,” their nameless prisoner said with a grin, and he locked the door again. His heavy footsteps left the room, which was doused in darkness again.

The fairy made no move to eat the food that their captor had left. Instead, they simply lay their head back down and closed their eyes, content to dream of a time when they could still fly.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Leave a comment if you liked it!


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